Neutering a buck to live with my girly?

[sophiew]

Bridget (previously known as Barry!) came to live with me last weekend and is a fully grown lionhead cross.

My friend took in 4 neglected bunnies yesterday, one of whom might be Bridget Jone's 'Mr Darcy' - he is not neutered, thought to be about 4 months old - what age could he be neutered at and how long do you have to leave it after neutering before bonding them?

Here he is:

What are the chances of them NOT bonding, realistically?

Thanks

Sophie
x

 

[rosietherabbit]

Neutering male to go with female

Hi,

You can neuter at about 4 months old as long as their testiles have dropped. My 4 month old male rabbit has just been castrated and I am now starting to bond him with a female. I have bonded several rabbits successfully in the past and never had a problem, some do take longer than others but if you do it properly you will be fine. Just don't expect them to love each other straight away, sometimes this happens but other times you just have to give it time.
The best way is to let the rabbits see each other first, without full contact. Either a run, with mesh between and let them see each other each day until they seem unbothered by each others company. Then you can remove the divider for a smalll amount of time and build this up, intervening if they appear aggressive, although remember some mounting and fur pulling is normal initially!! Or, if space allows, adapt their living conditions so they can see each other without gaining contact before introducing them completely. Obviously over the winter, it is much harder to get rabbits out in their runs regularly so you may have to do it another way - such as introducing them in mutual territory.
The way to do this is to put them in a room they have both never been in before, such as a hallway or bathroom and keep a close eye on them while you introduce them. I normally only put them together for a short amount of time to begin with and build this up. You should notice an improvement each time you put them together unless you are lucky enough that it is 'love at first sight'. If you don't, you may need to go back a step and use the run method instead. If you haven't bonded rabbits before, I would say you have better doing it in a run with the mesh between them first, as if you introduce them in mutual territory, it can be difficult to know when to intervene as they are more likely to chase each other and mount as they haven't had the gradual contact like they woud have done in the other methods.
Either way, be brave as it is very rewarding having two rabbits together and a neutered male and female pair works well as long as you give them lots of time and don't rush things when you introduce them, you will be fine.
If space is an issue, use one of the two storey hutches and board it off so both rabbits can be kept separate until they are bonded, as you don't want to be rushing them to live together until the time is right!

 

[rosietherabbit]

One more thing....

Leave it a week or two before neutering to start introducing them, to let hormones settle if you are introducing them in neutral territory. Although, if you are letting them see each other without full contact like in the method seeing the run or divider between their living accommodation, you can carry on doing this until you try them together once the hormones have settled!

 

[Amy104]

A week isn't long enough, as far as I am aware Bridget isn't spayed? The male will be fertile for up to 6 weeks after neutering.

Ideally you would be better off getting Bridget spayed aswell to calm her hormones and hopefully make bonding easier. She can be done at around 6 months but as you don't know her exact age this is probably something you'll need to talk to your vet about.

If both rabbits are neutered/spayed, then you can start bonding as soon as they are healed. A word of warning though, bonding bunnies is much harder than bonding piggies.

The best way is to let the rabbits see each other first, without full contact. Either a run, with mesh between and let them see each other each day until they seem unbothered by each others company.

This isn't always a surefire way as I've had some bunnies get agressive through the bars because they are defending their territory who then got on absolutely fine on neuteral territory. I do find swapping toys and food bowls a good way of getting them to associate each others scent tho.

To bond you want a small area which has not had either bunny in it - bath tubs are great. You will have to monitor them closely but you only want to interupt if it gets violent. Nipping, chasing and humping is usual so you must let them do this so they can establish the hierarchy, but you don't want anything more serious like locking on etc. Use gloves or water spray to seperate them if they fight so you don't get hurt. What you eventually want is two chilled buns snuggling and grooming each other.

Before you put them back in Bridgets hutch you will need to clean it with vinegar to neutralise it again so she doesn't associate it at hers and kick off.

What are the chances of them NOT bonding, realistically?

This really depends on the buns. They are by nature very territorial, however male female pairs are usually the easiest so hopefully you shouldn't have too much trouble.